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Cars rammed until they were ready for the scrap heap: whoever steers a roadworthy car to the end in »Wreckfest« wins
Photo:
HandyGames
Games, learning programs and smart everyday helpers: every month we trawl through the newly released smartphone apps and take a look at the useful tools and entertaining games that have appeared for iOS and Android in the past few weeks.
This time we create order in the children's room with the Lego figure scanner "BrickMonkey", ram cars to scrap in "Wreckfest" and create some pretty AI artworks with the iPhone.
These are our current app tips:
»Wreckfest« – full throttle towards the scrapping premium
Rear windows splinter, paint flakes off and bonnets whirl through the air: »Wreckfest« celebrates the scrapping of cars.
In the style of the classic "Destruction Derby" from the 1990s, drivers compete to ram their vehicles into each other's car in the arena and on circuits.
Whoever rolls over the finish line first in his rust dent or drives the last roadworthy car on the scrap heap wins.
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»Wreckfest« is an extensive full version with a single player career and multiplayer mode, which, at almost four gigabytes, takes up a good amount of space on the mobile phone.
However, additional content can also be downloaded, some of which costs around ten euros – just as much as the app itself. But even the basic game offers enough cars to choose from – including crazy vehicles such as mobile homes, combine harvesters and two-seater sofas.
Racing fans should be excited about the »Wreckfest« mobile version.
The ratings in the Google Play Store and Apple come close to five stars.
There is much praise for driving physics and graphics.
There are fewer 3D blades of grass compared to the Playstation 4 version, but the races run smoothly even on older smartphones, despite the many flying shreds.
Only the menus are a bit too small when the developers have shrunk the game to mobile phone size.
Wreckfest, for iOS and Android, ages 13 and up, around 12 euros
»The Past Within« – A little app, a little board game
There is something behind the photo hanging on the wall with the faded rose pattern wallpaper.
The dog-ear on the corner gives it away.
With a swipe of your finger, the picture detaches itself from the frame and a brushed rectangle appears.
Finally.
This is the key clue to unlocking the next puzzle - but on a different smartphone.
The game idea of »The Past Within« is clever: the puzzle can only be solved by two people.
The dark scene from the past plays out on one cell phone, while the hidden clues have to be typed in on the other cell phone.
So players have to sit next to each other in the living room and talk to each other - or on the phone if you're not playing in the same room.
You don't have to pair your PC, smartphone and tablet.
It always goes on when the call is correct and typed correctly.
With "The Past Within", the developers at Rusty Lake have succeeded in creating a very entertaining app experiment that elegantly dissolves the boundaries between puzzle app and exit game board games.
The app, which must be installed on both devices, is available for just under four euros.
The couple mode also works if the game is only purchased once and downloaded to a smartphone and a tablet with the same Google account.
The Past Within, for iOS and Android, ages 12 and up, around 4 euros
»Draw Things« – AI art generator on the go
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Magnificent images from the iPhone: The bionic chip calculates AI works of art from texts
Photo:
Liu Liu
A Smurf fishing on the moon and a unicorn riding a bike: With »Draw Things«, such pictures can now be quickly made on the go.
The text-to-image generator for your pocket even creates the colorful paintings offline on your smartphone using the Stable Diffusion software.
However, at least one A12 processor must drive the iPhone or iPad so that the integrated bionic chip can simulate the neural network.
The iPhone 13 Mini in our test is put under a lot of pressure.
The cell phone takes up to two minutes to calculate the image and gets quite warm in the process.
The app also uses up a lot of storage space.
Almost two gigabytes of data have to be downloaded - per model for image calculation.
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Unfortunately, the images don't look as spectacular as the art paintings that can be created with the Dall-E-2 browser tool, for example.
But with a little trial and error, the app spits out pretty nice art photos, even if the maximum resolution of 512 by 768 pixels is pretty measly.
For AI connoisseurs, there are many controls that go beyond pure text input: The individual software models can be selected and the so-called seed value set, which determines the initial image.
This tends to be a deterrent for beginners.
Draw Things, for iOS , ages 4+, free
»BrickMonkey« – tidying app for Lego collectors
Something is missing from the Lego figure.
Wasn't there a cap, a chain or a ratchet?
»BrickMonkey« makes it easier to search for missing parts in the box with the plug-in building blocks.
The app uses a smartphone camera to scan the torso of the block figure, looks for the appropriate serial number in an online catalogue, and uses painted jerseys, high-visibility vests and diving suits to find out which head goes with it and whether the fins are perhaps missing.
In addition to the "Brickit" building instructions app, "BrickMonkey" is another unofficial tool for bringing order to the Lego box.
That works fine.
The app recognizes researchers, astronauts and police officers.
Only one conductor in our test did not show a suitable catalog entry to find out whether a trowel might have gone missing.
In order to reorder missing Lego parts, a link leads directly to the appropriate figure on the »Bricklink« online marketplace.
BrickMonkey, for iOS and Android, no age restriction, free
»Duolingo Math« – More fun with multiplication
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You can only get to the next level if you do the math correctly in »Duolingo Math«
Photo:
Duolingo
Math can also be fun: With the »Duolingo Math« app, the developers are leaving their previous specialty of languages and are now also teaching users arithmetic.
The motivation tricks of the sister app also work here: the comic style gives the formulas a lively video game look, colorful buttons invite you to tap them and successfully completed math tests unlock the next level.
So far, the app is also free, ad-free and without in-app purchases.
However, that can still change.
The app is advertised as a brain jog for adults and a primary school guide for kids.
But Duolingo recommends the exercises for children from the age of seven.
It's still too early.
For first and even second graders, the training is far too tricky in places.
The app starts straight away with multiplication and requires the kids to master the basics.
In addition, »Duolingo Math« is only available in English so far.
While this isn't as important for arithmetic problems, an adult needs to be present for task selection.
The app is currently only available for iOS devices, but an app for Android is still to appear, a spokesman told SPIEGEL on request.
However, a specific date has not yet been set.
Duolingo Math, for iOS (Android is planned), from 4 years, free
